Are you feeling stuck? You want to relaunch your career, but don’t know where to start? Attend a women’s leadership conference! You don’t have to be employed to benefit from its tremendous networking , inspiration, and idea generating opportunities.

If you have been out of the workplace for a few years, you may have forgotten how to write a business plan. We all know they are important as a business planning and funding tool, but does the idea of a business plan fill you with dread? Another concept to make you feel outdated and out to lunch?

Sound a bit daunting? When you think of genius do you think of Einstein or Mozart? I did until I was introduced to another definition. Think of your genius as your unique talent and gift to the world. Do you know what it is? Does your work flow from your genius?

YourOnRamp welcomed Dr. Sylvia Ann Hewlett to a sold out evening of networking and inspiration on Monday night. 200 talented and enthusiastic women joined our six sponsors, Aquent, Lehman Brothers, Fenwick & West, U.S. Trust, Cisco, Chronicle Books and HBS in the spectacular offices of Fenwick & West LLC in Mountain View.

Here are some of the "Best Practice" highlights of Dr. Sylvia Ann Hewlett's talk at YourOnRamp's launch event November 5, 2007. Sylvia did a masterful job articulating what many of us have felt for a long time. Women do add unique value (measurable on the bottom line) and are just as motivated and committed to fulfilling work as our male counterparts. The current structure of the workplace makes it very difficult to find one work-life balance or fit that works over an entire career. It is exciting to see that companies are realizing they need to and can do something about it!

Fear has got to be the most unproductive emotion. As President Roosevelt said, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.” I can’t agree with him more. Fear slows you down, clouds you mind, and prevents you from seeing clearly or acting boldly with strength of conviction and purpose. I know there are biological reasons why this is so, back to our primitive cave man years. But that doesn’t mean I like it!

I was fascinated to read a recent article in HR Magazine about workplace flexibility, "The Future is Now" by Ann Pomeroy about Capital One's workplace flexibility program. If you are limiting your job search to part-time work, you may want to reconsider. Flexibility programs like this can provide you with a stimulating job and a work-life balance that works.

Under this 3 year old program, employees of Capital One are equipped with mobile technology, laptops and blackberries, that allow them to work most anywhere.

Hi gals, as you look for balance in your lives, please consider volunteer Board membership. If you are looking to take time off from the workplace but want to keep your skills and network current while giving back to your community, service as a non-profit Board Member is a terrific opportunity.

Sylvia Ann Hewlett's latest book, "Off-Ramps and On-Ramps: Keeping Talented Women on the Road to Success" is an inspiring read. In it she documents the successful efforts of the "Hidden Brain Drain Task Force," a group of 34 leading edge global companies including Johnson & Johnson, Lehman Brothers and Time Warner to retain and rehire talented women. If you want to get a fascinating overview of the lay of the land on this topic and be inspired, read her book. The task force came together on six core recommendations for companies who want to make the most of female talent:

An interesting article in the May 2007 issue of HR Magazine "To Make Changes Manage Them" by Nancy Hatch Woodward profiled the skills necessary for successful change management. "Managing change is a way of thinking, and there are some people it just comes naturally to. When you find those people, you grab them and use them," according to Donna Curry, recruitment program manager at TVA.